Some unhappy Rams fans unloading club seat PSLs

As the St. Louis Rams scramble to renew three-year agreements on pricey club seats and corporate sponsorships for the first time, some fans are throwing in the towel and selling their personal seat licenses.

"What they promised they didn't deliver," said a west St. Louis County physician who's actually giving away $8,000 in PSLs to unload four club seats with four years left on a lease. "The food stinks, the service stinks. There's just no value to the club seats."

A PSL is a one-time fee that must be paid in order to buy tickets. It amounts to the cost of a season ticket, or $800 to $2,200 per club seat.

Rams officials said 1 percent of PSLs, or just over 600 licenses, change hands a year. They said they are not aware of more PSLs for sale now than at any other time.

But renewal of club seats is new territory. Club-seat owners, who may use the Rams Club Restaurant and other amenities, agree to three-, five- or seven-year leases. The three-year leases, the first group up for renewal since the Rams moved here in 1995, have an April 1 deadline.

Around 700 out of 1,300 leases remain to be renewed, said Brian Ulione, Rams vice president of sales.

The renewals represent 20 percent of the 6,425 club seats in the stadium, which holds around 66,000 and has enjoyed sell-out crowds since opening.

The Rams also are under deadline pressure to renew three-year agreements for some $3 million in corporate sponsorships this year, including a deal with Southwestern Bell worth $930,000, said Phil Thomas, Rams vice president of marketing. Negotiations with the phone company continue, with a June 30 deadline.

Schnuck Markets and Dobbs Tire & Auto have renewed deals worth more than $200,000 each, Thomas said. Dodge Ram Trucks signed on for $195,000. Other big sponsors such as Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola have five-year agreements.

To encourage early club-seat renewals, the Rams sent fans a letter last year offering incentives such as seat upgrades, with a deadline of Feb. 9 for responding. Rams officials declined to say how many did.

Meanwhile, companies with seats appear to be remaining loyal. Among major St. Louis companies, NationsBank, which holds 104 seats, is renewing its agreement on 10 club seats up for renewal, a spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Ralston Purina said the company is renewing an agreement for 50 seats, though they are not club seats. Emerson Electric also is eyeing renewals, a spokesman said.

Yet numerous ads have been popping up for PSLs lately in local newspapers and on the Internet. And sellers say there's been a surprising lack of interest.

One health-care professional said he has run a newspaper ad off and on for a few months for four club seats with an asking price of $1,200 each. But he's received only two dozen inquiries.

The seller, who did not want to be named, is dumping the seats because the company he just joined thinks they're too expensive. He originally purchased them as an independent representative for another firm.

Fans transferring club seats, as well as PSLs worth more than $1,000, must pay the Rams a $100 fee, which is another sore spot.

The west county doctor and his partner, both obstetrician-gynecologists, are closing a sale on the four seats for $2,000 each and keeping eight others. He blasted the Rams for high ticket prices.

Ulione defended ticket prices, saying that out of 30 NFL teams, the price of Rams tickets ranks 26th, averaging $34.26 per ticket. But he acknowledged that the ranking does not take PSL costs into account.

Mark Schieber of Wildwood is selling two PSLs for $3,000 each because he's moving to New Jersey for a new job. But he was contemplating a sale even before he got the offer, he said.

"It was getting to be a drag to go down and watch them lose," said Schieber, who had received just three calls days after his ad ran. The season includes 10 home games, with two of them exhibition games.

Other seat holders aren't giving up. "Obviously we're not happy with how they've played," said Elliott Benoist, secretary of the Charles L. Crane Agency, an insurance firm. "I'm giving them a chance."

Among NFL teams, the Rams are second after the Carolina Panthers to initiate PSLs, said Max Muhleman, a sports marketing consultant in Charlotte, N.C., who helped devise the Rams seat licenses.